Piano Companion is a music theory reference app for songwriters, producers, teachers, and students. Look up any of 1,500+ chords or 10,000+ scales instantly, build progressions, and explore harmony on iOS, Android, and Mac.
Whether you're stuck on a progression, blanking on a scale name, or just exploring — Piano Companion gives you the answer in seconds. Press the keys you know, and it tells you what you're playing.
Search by name or tap the keys you know. Piano Companion identifies what you're playing — even from a MIDI keyboard.
The Chord Progression Builder suggests chords that fit your key. Experiment with patterns, listen back, and find what sounds right.
See notes on the grand staff, fingering for both hands, intervals, degrees, and compatible scales — all in context, not abstract textbook diagrams.
Select the Paintbrush tool, open the Brush Dialog, and select a brush that looks like an arrowhead (often named "Arrow" or "Sparks"). You draw the shaft of the arrow first, then click the arrowhead brush at the tip.
For a more sophisticated and reusable approach, the savvy GIMP user turns to the “Stroke Path” feature combined with custom brushes. By downloading or creating a dynamic arrow-shaped brush, the user can paint arrows with a single click. However, the most professional method involves using the “Path” tool to draw the entire arrow—shaft and head—as a single continuous vector path. Once the path is finalized, the user selects “Stroke Path” from the Edit menu, choosing a solid line or a pattern. Crucially, by using the “Stroke Line” dialog, the user can specify a “Line Style” that includes a triangular cap at one end, effectively creating an arrowhead in a single, editable vector stroke. Even better, the user can keep the path as a separate “Path” tab, allowing them to re-stroke it later with different colors or brush dynamics. This technique reveals GIMP’s hidden power: the ability to retain editable geometric data alongside the raster image, bridging the gap between vector precision and raster aesthetics. arrow in gimp
If you are a professional designer comfortable with Paths, GIMP is serviceable. If you are a casual user, The native experience is inefficient and feels archaic for a modern image editor. Select the Paintbrush tool, open the Brush Dialog,
(Fixes the software’s oversight, but requires user initiative to install.) By downloading or creating a dynamic arrow-shaped brush,
Drawing an arrow in GIMP is a common task, but because GIMP doesn't have a dedicated "Arrow Tool" in its default toolbox, users often have to rely on manual techniques, paths, or external plugins.
The "interesting story" of arrows in GIMP is actually a long-standing saga of a missing feature that has become a rite of passage for its users. Unlike almost every other modern graphic editor, GIMP has famously never included a dedicated "Arrow Tool" in its standard toolbox . Reddit +1 The "Great Omission" For decades, the lack of a simple arrow tool has been a defining quirk of the software. While GIMP is a powerhouse for image manipulation, its philosophy leans toward being a photo editor rather than a vector drawing program. This "omission" led to a thriving community-driven culture where users developed increasingly creative—and sometimes absurdly complex—workarounds to perform what should be a simple task. Reddit +2 A History of Creative Workarounds The "story" of the GIMP arrow is essentially a history of these community "hacks": 11 sites Interactive arrow design in GIMP (Shallow Thoughts) Jul 10, 2010 —
Piano Companion is a music theory reference app that gives musicians instant access to 1,500+ chords with inversions, 10,000+ scales, a chord progression builder, reverse chord lookup, and an interactive circle of fifths. It is available on iOS, Android, and macOS, and supports 40+ languages. Whether you are a beginner learning your first chords or a professional songwriter sketching ideas, Piano Companion provides the answers you need in seconds.
Tap the piano keys you know on screen or connect a MIDI keyboard, and Piano Companion identifies every matching chord and scale in real time. This is especially useful when you hear a chord in a song but don't know its name — just play the notes and the app tells you what they form.
Piano Companion is free to download on iOS, Android, and macOS. The free version includes core chord and scale lookups. A Pro upgrade unlocks additional features including all chord inversions, the full scale library, the chord progression builder, and the circle of fifths tool.
Yes. Connect any MIDI keyboard to your device and Piano Companion will detect the notes you play, identifying chords and scales in real time. This works on iOS (via Camera Connection Kit or Bluetooth MIDI), Android (via USB OTG), and macOS (via USB or Bluetooth).
Piano Companion is available on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, and macOS. Your chord libraries sync across devices, so you can start on your phone and continue on your Mac.
Available on every major platform. Start exploring chords and scales today.
